Volunteer spotlight: Kathleen Garland-Rike

Volunteers are the heart of our Party. They keep thingsrunning effectively not only during the campaign seasons but during the slowertimes as well. Our volunteer spotlight this month is on Kathleen Garland-Rike,who not only worked incredibly hard during the fall campaign but is one of ourhardest working and most loyal volunteers in this slower time. You will see herworking behind the office reception desk on Fridays, but she spends many morehours at the office and in meetings as the KCDP Membership chair.

Kathleen arrived in Kalamazoo in 1995 after a fascinatingcareer as a public school teacher and a university professor. Kathleen has aBain Education and a PhD in Information Retrieval Systems. After teaching fifthgrade in a Cleveland suburb and working on her graduate degree at Case Westernin Ohio, she began her university career at Rutgers, the State University ofNew Jersey.

Kathleen moved to Ball State where the program for which shewas hired folded in five month. But it wasn’t all a loss in Indiana as she mether husband, Galen, there. Kathleen soon moved on to the State University NewYork at Buffalo To a job she loved: working with and supervising students.However, in order to be closer to Galen who was still at Ball State, Kathleentook a teaching job at U of M, sand Galen became a department chair at WaldoLibrary, WMU. Kathleen gave up her university career after years of commutingmarriage and moved  to Kalamazoo.Kathleen authored over 30 refereed journal articles as a university professor.

Once in Kalamazoo she found a job in the KelloggsvilleSchool District as a Media/Technology Specialist at the high school, which wasnamed one of the top 100 high schools for technology in its size range duringher tenure there. Kathleen says she also loved that job but got tired of the100 mile a day drive. So, she moved on to another phase of her fascinatinglife, full time volunteering

When asked what prompted her to become a full time volunteershe said that initially she could find nothing in the Kalamazoo area in herfield that she wanted to do and that she had always liked volunteering—whichshe had done whenever she was. As a volunteer she says she can choose exactlywhat she is interested in and can do something for greater good. Kathleen saysthat there certainly is self interest in volunteering as it helps you feel youare doing things for others and giving something back to society

Kathleen choose the Democratic party because she wanted todo something that would make a difference. She was on the Oshtemo PlanningCommission for six years while she was working but realized when she went tothe booth to vote there was only one choice. The Democrats needed a voice andshe needed someone to vote for. So, at her forceful urging, LibbyHeiny-Cogswell ran for Oshtemo Supervisor and won. Being her campaign chair wasanother experience that Kathleen loved. Walking three or for times each week,writing press releases and designing advertising were exciting volunteerexperiences for her – and she will do it again.

The KCDP is not Kathleen’s only volunteer job.  She also is committed to the ISSACHousing initiative and just returned from a four day Gamaliel training inDetroit.  One of her trainers wasMike Krugelich who also was Barack Obama’s trainer when he was being trained asa community organizer by Gamaliel and who had a tenth row seat at theinauguration.  Think what mighthappen if you’re a Democratic volunteer!

Kathleen’s words for all of us – “Go For It”  The Democrats have lots of interestingjobs so “pick something you are interested in and go for it”.